Professional CVs – As good as it gets…. Really?
Most professionals these days use professional CVs rather than DIY ones to apply for jobs. This is especially true for managers, senior managers, executives, directors, MDs and C-level professionals, and not just in sectors such as business and finance, but just about every single public and private sector field out there including academia, education IT, communications, construction, health, sales, marketing and many others. But just because you have a professional CV, does it mean that it’s any good?
It’s a pertinent question because just like many other products, the quality of professional CVs vary immensely from the poor and awful to below par, standard, average, decent, good and outstanding.
While really awful and truly outstanding professional CVs are few and far between, most professional CVs fall somewhere in the poor – standard – good range.
Just how good is your professional CV?
This is also a very pertinent question because most people haven’t the faintest idea just how good their professional CV is compared to other professional CVs! Many are blinded by the word “professional” and presume that just because they paid for a so-called “professional CV,” and it looks better than their original, then it is as good as it could possibly be.
Of course, this is complete nonsense – for the vast majority of cases at least. And especially since the vast majority of people end up with something in the poor, standard or good range rather than a truly outstanding professional CV.
This is not so surprising. Indeed, the same happens in pretty much every single sector. Some hairdressers are far better than others, some architects are way better than others, and some plastic surgeons can make you look like a Hollywood star whereas others should come with a health warning.
The difference between CVs and plastic surgery is that with plastic surgery, hairstyling and architecture etc., the results are often visual, and can be weighed up pretty accurately with even a quick glance.
The same cannot be said of CVs. Indeed, visual impressions can even be a bit misleading. While many people who have just bought a ‘professional’ CV weight their judgement heavily towards how it looks and how well it represents their career history, alas, this isn’t the same criteria as the real decision-makers (i.e. actual employers) use to determine who gets the job (or not as the case may be). It’s one reason why those with flashy minimalist or detail-heavy CVs are often bamboozled when their applications keep failing.
Essentially, there is an awful lot more to top-quality CVs than most people realise, and most of it isn’t visible (or at least obvious) to the layman eye. True, some of it does have to do with how it looks, and how well (or badly) you present your messages, but some of it also runs much deeper – even to the very roots of CV purpose and fundamentals. If even the likes of most ‘professional’ companies don’t grasp the very basics, then it is no surprise whatsoever that laymen clients find it difficult to differentiate between a standard professional CV and one that will serve them infinitely better in the competitive job market.
Can your professional CV be better?
The short answer to this is almost certainly! Indeed, the vast majority of ‘professional’ CVs can not only be improved, but can be hugely improved, and on pretty much every single front!
It’s just that most people have no idea just how much until a genuine top writer gets their hands on it and reworks/rebuilds it.
For more details on the numerous areas that we frequently dramatically enhance on “professional” CVs please see the ‘Typical Differences’ section on this page.
Why is this?
Ultimately it boils down to the same kind of thing as why some hairdressers, architects and plastic surgeons are far better than most of their peers …more talented, well-qualified professionals using way better methods, and spending more time, creativity and attention to detail to give you the very best.
In the CV sector, essential traits such as qualifications and genuine writing talent are not just overlooked by many CV firms but are frequently just brushed under the carpet (try applying for a job with some professional firms and see for yourself). Similarly, methods vary considerably between ‘poor – standard – good’ firms and the very best ones. At one extreme it’s just tweaking standard templates whereas at the other extreme the best firms go as far as ripping everything up and building it properly again from scratch. You may not think that it is necessary, and it does take more time, effort and attention to detail, but if you have a genuine top writer in your corner then it is pretty much always what you need if you are to achieve the best results. Even the grasp of fundamentals behind methods differs greatly between most firms and the very best – which is why some professional CVs are almost doomed to failure before they are written!
If you, like many, are baffled as to why your shiny new good-looking professional CV isn’t working in the competitive job market then you shouldn’t be so surprised. There is an awful lot more to successful job applications than typical ‘professional’ CVs that essentially just describe your job history in a neater format.
Some of this ‘awful lot more’ relates to the detail and the way it is presented, but a significant part of it also relates to underlying fundamentals, and without both the net result is usually a, true, prettier/tidier curriculum vitae, but not necessarily one that is geared up to helping you land your target jobs.
Getting an opinion
In particular, you should be wary of fake reviews, spurious statistics and false claims. The sector is full of this malpractice. Of course, many people see through marketing gimmicks and tactics such as these, but not everybody does, which goes someway to explaining why so many people end up paying good money for a purported ‘professional’ CV that isn’t quite as professional as they had been led to believe!
